I’d been holding on to the charm pack I used for a while. It’s Sphere by Moda. The fabrics are really modern and I thought they would be great for a gender neutral or boy baby quilt. I’ve been following Elizabeth Hartman’s quilting blog, Oh Fransson, since before I started quilting. I used her free charm pack quilt pattern I saw there.

25 whole squares and 13 half squares sewn together to make the charm square strips

Sookie likes to hang out with me in the new sewing room.

The charm strips sewn to the solid gray strips

Completed quilt top after squaring it up

The backing fabric for this one was extra difficult. I finally got it taped down to the tile without wrinkles.

The completed quilt with a look at the back!

I tried a new machine binding method. I sewed the binding to the front first, rolled the binding over to the back, clipped it down so that it extended past the sewing on the front side, then sewed from the front right at the inside edge of the binding. I’m happy with how it turned out and I think it will be sturdier than hand sewing the back, which is a really important consideration for a baby quilt. Next time I think I will cut the binding strips at 2″ instead of 2 1/2″ because the binding is longer than necessary on the back.

Quilt #4 is in the books! This is the “boy” baby quilt made with the other half of the Simply Style by V and Co. jelly roll. I love it just as much as the “girl” one, if not more. I know I’ve said it before but I’m crazy over this fabric line.

Baby Boy Jelly Roll Jam Quilt

Slouchy quilt in the backyard

My friends had an adorable baby boy the morning after I finished making this little quilt for him. Just like I did for this quilt’s more feminine counterpart, I used this tutorial on Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.’s blog. She created this fabric line I love so much for Moda. The jelly roll jam pattern was made by Fat Quarter Shop and can be found here. Fat Quarter Shop, where I happily buy most of my fabric, also made a very useful instructional video for this pattern.

The pattern starts with sewing together three 6 piece strip units. Next, the units are paired, some flipped around, to make nine quilt blocks in three configurations.

Quilt blocks before sewing them together

The nine quilt blocks are sewn together to make the quilt top.

BLOOD, a little sweat, but no tears this time.

I’m trying to get in the habit of making labels for my quilts. I think it’s important for a keepsake quilt but it’s also kinda difficult to attach it in the correct spot so late in the quilting phase. I stabbed myself with a pin trying to stitch this one to the back of the quilt. I only tell you about it so you’ll think I’m tough. Full contact quilting. Don’t worry, I didn’t bleed on the quilt.

I straight line quilted this one just like its counterpart. I also used the same machine binding method for durability. I sewed the double fold binding to the back first, then flipped and pinned it to the front using my new Clover clips. I machine sewed it to the front, as well, being careful not to sew over the backside of the binding. I succeeded this time – no accidental stitches on the binding – hooray!

This quilt was fun to make and I’m really happy with the end results. It worked out well to use this pattern and single jelly roll to make two identical quilts. The thorough instructions got me through the first one with barely any mishaps and doing a familiar pattern a second time let me focus on precision and improving new techniques. I already received a sweet thank you photo of the adorable baby recipient lounging on his quilt. Victory!

My third quilt ever is finished! It is my first baby sized quilt. I used half of one jelly roll (18 strips sized 2.5″ x 44″) for the entire quilt top. It went by quickly and was really fun. I’m really happy with the finished product, mostly because I am so in love with this line of fabric, Simply Style by V and Co. for Moda.

The completed quilt! I wish I had bothered to make the bed and bust out my real camera for these photos. My apologies!

A folded quilt photo

The back of the quilt with a label

My cousin had a beautiful baby girl this month and I’d been dying to make a baby quilt so I made this one for her. I saw this tutorial for two adorable baby quilts (one for a girl and one for a boy) made from one jelly roll. I was smitten. This wonderful fabric is Simply Style by V and Co. for Moda. Vanessa Christenson, the creator of the fabric line, and I both followed this jelly roll jam quilt pattern and great YouTube instructional video put together by the owner of my favorite fabric shop, Fat Quarter Shop.

The fabric that started it all!

The first step of the Fat Quarter Shop jelly roll jam pattern is to select 18 strips you would like to use in your quilt. I used almost the same ones Vanessa Christenson chose. You divide them into three sets, making sure you like the arrangement. You then sew the six strips in each set to one another horizontally.

After creating the three strip sets, you cut each one into six pieces, each measuring 6.5″ x 12.5″. I am still struggling to make perfect quarter inch seams on this machine, so my strip sets were a little short and I did have to do some squaring up along the way. Next, you make nine quilt blocks by sewing two strip set pieces together. Check the pattern to see who gets sewn to who and which ones get flipped over prior to the sewing. I squared up after this step too.

Some strip set blocks

After that, you arrange the blocks according to the pattern, sew your rows horizontally, then sew the rows together. This is pretty painless as the quilt only consists of nine blocks.

The completed quilt top on my sewing table

Here’s the completed quilt top again laid out on the floor

About to baste the three pieces together

Quilting went very quickly. I copied Vanessa Christenson yet again with that. I did vertical straight line quilting throughout. I didn’t measure it but I would guess the lines are about an inch apart. I used my walking foot with a quilt guide.

I stopped halfway through quilting to sew the label I made to the backing fabric only. This was my first time making a label and using a zigzag stitch so it took some time to get it right. I won’t show a closeup to protect the baby’s anonymity but I’m glad I added one because it makes it more of a keepsake gift. I just have to get a little better at it.

I bound this quilt using a little less than a 1/2 yard of one of the pink prints from the fabric line. I machine bound both sides for the first time. I did this for durability since baby quilts tend to be washed a lot. It went pretty well for the first time and I think I learned from this how to machine bind the next baby quilt without any mistakes. I machine sewed double fold binding to the back first, then flipped it around to the front for better control.

I wasn’t blogging back in November when I finished this so I don’t have many/any great photos. It’s the first blanket I’ve ever made though so I didn’t want to skip it. I made it for our sweet niece M. for her first birthday in December 2011.

It’s 36 granny squares total. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease in fisherman, lemongrass, and cilantro with a N-sized crochet hook (I think). I wish I would have crocheted some kind of finishing edge onto it to help ensure that the outer squares don’t come untied. Lesson learned for next time I guess!